The Rise and Future of the Islamic State

The Islamic state is an amorphous group owing allegiance to Sunni Islam. It is a hard line group that believes in a pristine Sunni Islamic state, stretching from Africa, Middle East to India. There is no place for any other form of Islam or any other sect or religion. Considering that Sunnis constitute 80% of the Muslim population, the resources available for recruitment and men is vast. The IS thus generates a tremendous appeal in the Sunni world. For pure believers in the Sunni concept of Islamic state, the IS is like a beacon to paradise.

The IS came into prominence due to acts of commission and
Commission by George Bush, the US President. For this alone the American people must take him to task. Bush overthrew the very forces that had kept these Wahhabi elements in check. Thus men like Saddam Hussein and Maummar Gaddafi were executed with impunity as well as with a certain degree of glee.

The removal of these men, gave a fresh lease of life to the IS and in a fractured Arab polity, the IS surged ahead. It has captured large tracts of land in Iraq and Syria. It also has a significant presence  in Libya and other Arab states.

The IS in all areas summarily beheads non Muslims like Christians and Shias. The non Muslims are just marched to a secluded spot and beheaded. Its a terrible world. Worse is the state of women who have been  reduced to the status of chattels, concubines and sex objects. The IS fighters consider it their right to use these women as spoils of war.  The IS is now a force and cannot be wished away. The future appears blurry and one can't be sure the IS will be defeated.

Narendra Modi may be the Best Prime Minister of India Ever

Narendra Modi has stepped into the chair vacated by that silly man Man Mohan Singh. He is the Prime Minister of India and despite all his faults, one can grudgingly concede that he is the best thing to have happened to India since 1947. History says that the hour finds the man and there is a possibility that after a string of insipid prime minister's India  have a man who can lead from the front.

Modi is not only a mass media man, but he is a man who has made the heads of the world leaders turn towards India. It started with Obama who as a first attended the Republic day parade  at Delhi and then followed his visits to Australia and Canada and he was lionized as a great man who has brought about change. Time magazine has put him on its cover and the cation says " why Modi matters".

Modi's recent visit to China is another interesting example of his leadership from the front. He has not hesitated to put  his cards on the table and call a spade a spade and despite this got $ 22 billion in joint investments in India from Chinese business.

Modi is going great guns, but he appears a one man army as all his other leaders are all lack luster men. Look at Rajnath Singh, or Modi of Bihar,The Gujarat CM,  and one can hardly see a man who can sway the masses. In this Modi is a crowd puller and a leader. There are men like Nitesh Kumar sulking and jealous of all this, but I am afraid they can only bark and not bite and I am sure they may well be consigned to the dustbin of history.

Modi however has to build on his gains. He cannot rest as the journey ahead is heard and he is a one man show. Modi leads and India looks safe, for once we have a leader who is one of the masses and not an elitist yes man. Come to think of it, what a shame Man Mohan was Prime Minister of India .He was good at "ba ba blacksheep, three bags full...." Modi is above that. Lets hope he builds and does not flounder like Nehru who died a broken men, scorned by the world.

One Rank One pension for Soldiers and Modi

OROP ;From Here to EternityThe bell tolls on its Non Approval

Recently I read a very brave letter written by Lt Gen TS Bahri to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The general has minced no words in reminding Narendra Modi of his promise to the nation and soldiers to honour One Rank One Pension. Its a wonderful reminder, but I wonder if it will have the desired effect. OROP seems to be slipping from the grasp into a quicksand and once it goes under may never surface.

A look at past history and the approach of the government does not inspire confidence. Right from the time when Lieutenant General Kulwant Singh was superseded by Nehru and a man beholden to him General Cariappa appointed as COAS, the forces have always been at the receiving end. Merit and legitimate demands have very little meaning. One can recollect that General Kulwant in a 1952 study had clearly mentioned that China would go to war against India in a few years, but Nehru did not like the report and Kuwant found himself superseded by Cariappa. 

 Cariappa as army chief  has a lot to answer.  His tenure marked the first steps when the down gradation of the services took place. The general was  beholden to Nehru for being made the COAS and he just demurred. There is also no record that the general ever in any study or note cautioned the Congress government and Nehru about the threat from China. I bring this point out as part of my argument that successive Chiefs of Staff of the army have not done much for the man in uniform for a variety of reasons.

There are tens of examples of the spineless approach of the  general staff and the incident in 1962 when the Army Chief general Thapar accepted an order signed by a Joint secretary to throw the Chinese out must take the cake. This man demeaned the rank that he held of a force that had a checkered history of 200 years.

I do not hold the Air Force chief and navy Chief  as culpable as the army chief, for the simple reason that they represent a force that is basically of use in a war and has nothing to do with day to day activities of law and order. The army chief is the man who heads the largest organized and disciplined force in the country and he  and he alone must bear the weight of the world like Atlas.

Over the years the governments have studiously ignored the legitimate demands of the armed forces. One reason is the failure of successive Chiefs of Staff of the army to pressurize or represent the army point of view forcefully.

There is no difference in a Congress government and the BJP government as one can see from the approach of the government in not paying legitimate dues approved by the Supreme Court for pension. The court had  held that revisions of pension would be applicable from 2006 ( 1 Jan) and yet though the civilian counterparts are paid the government ( BJP ) counsel Pinki Anand has expressed inability to pay and is dragging  its feet on a matter approved and judged by the Supreme Court. What does it show ?

The total cost to the state exchequer is just Rs 1500 crore in this particular case. In case  the government cannot pay 1500 crore, where is the chance that it will pay 8500 crore , which is a conservative estimate for OROP. It does not seem likely at all.

Let us be clear that blaming the civil services will not go far, for if Modi and his colleagues want to sanction OROP, then which civil servant will oppose them ? This is self delusion and the fact is that government led by the Finance minister wont pay, knowing fully well that the services will hem and haw,but not bite. This is the crucial point, the government is convinced that it can drag its feet on OROP  with the hope that  an exasperated  service may accept something lesser. This is a devilish game.

One must remember that this government from the time of Nehru to Modi do not understand the language of reason and what they understand is a reaction. It is for the army chief to put the cards on the table and if necessary resigning from his post. It will have an effect. We had a sad case of an army chief going to the Supreme Court on his age, the same man is a minister in the government now. Could he go to court on OROP?  I am afraid nothing is won by a conciliatory attitude. The Hindus lost to the Muslims for they lacked the iron will and resolve and abhorred violence .

The case of OROP is a classical case of the services , the defender of the integrity and unity of India being given short shrift.Mr. Jaitley the FM is the main stumbling block and I wonder whether  he has read Mao ? political power comes out of the barrel of a gun. He better realize as the bell tolls for Modi and his government and that includes the FM.

Marlon Brando: One of the Greats of Hollywood

I first saw Brando in 'On the The Waterfront'. It was a black and white movie but showed Brando as a great actor. Subsequently Brando shot up and I saw him in a 'Countess from HongKong' with Sophia Loren and ' The last tango in Paris' with French actress Romy Schneider.

Brando was no ordinary actor and in all his roles he 'lived ' them, that was his greatness for while watching him on the screen one never got an idea that it was an actor doing the role. He literally lived the role and that is the hallmark of a great actor.

 Marlon Brando is no more and one of his more memorable roles was in the 'God father' where he acted the part of the Italian Mafia Don. The movie based on a book by Maria Puzo created records all around and won an Oscar for Brando. Brando changed his style of dialogue delivery for this movie to conform to the Italian gangster.

He was a great actor in adapting himself to a role and in  the movie 'Queimada'  he played the role of a slave trader who is killed by a slave brought up by him. he literally lived the role. I have little hesitation in placing Brando as one of the greats of Hollywood. There have been other greats, but Brando was without peer.

Later in life Brando turned to social causes. In particular he championed the cause of the Red Indians who had been deprived off their rights by the white man. He also took the case up to Congress and created great awareness about the plight of Red Indians in the USA.

Brando is thus an actor who had an extra dimension and deserves praise as a man of many facets. he had his quota of love affairs as sex for him was like eating food and fathered many children from different mothers. But all this is part of the game and Brando deserves a special niche in Hollywoods hall of fame 

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